


Who They Are

by itxokayish



Series: Who We Are [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse, After Lotor kills Zarkon, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone had so much info that Keith doesn't know, Gen, Human Experimentation, Hurt Hunk (Voltron), Hurt Lance (Voltron), Hurt Pidge | Katie Holt, Hurt Shiro (Voltron), Lance had more of a connection to Keith than Keith is able to remember, Lotor is pretty messed up, Mind Manipulation, Pining Lance (Voltron), Slavery, So is the whole empire, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:47:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22087393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itxokayish/pseuds/itxokayish
Summary: The paladins defeat Zarkon with Lotor's help, but then they suddenly find themselves knocked out cold and captured. They all get separated and try to find each other again, but with all they have been through, it doesn't feel like it will ever be the same.
Relationships: Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Hunk & Shiro (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lotor (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Paladins/ Pain and Suffering
Series: Who We Are [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589851
Comments: 7
Kudos: 70





	1. Lance: Year One of Captivity

**Author's Note:**

> So I got comments asking what the other paladins went through while Keith went through his own hell, so here it is. Don't say I didn't warn you, this is dark and violent. 
> 
> It won't be as graphic and nowhere near as bad as Keith's, for the places that each of them are sent aren't as awful as Keith's Lotor just has different plans for him than anyone on the team. You can read the first chapter of Who He Is if you want more context to what is happening, but if not, this is going to reveal a lot more since it's from different perspectives. 
> 
> Happy reading and don't say I didn't warn you.

His head hurt so much, and it took forever for his eyes to focus.

He groaned as he was able to see in front of him. It looked like Keith’s armor.

_Keith? What is he doing here? Weren’t we just on Voltron?_

His mind started bustling with the unconnected dots. He was about to reach out to Keith before some door opened. It was the door to the pod-like ship they were in. He moved, then he realized his hands were bound together. He looked back and was met with the faces of the rest of the paladins. Everyone except Allura. And Coran.

_What happened?_

Before he could do anything, he was met with piercing, glowing yellow eyes that bore into his. His helpless, _weaponless_ , self. His eyes widened before he could do anything and he looked at Keith in panic who made eye contact with him.

He had never seen Keith so panicked, so unsure of what to do next.

 _This isn’t the way I wanted to see you again,_ Lance thought. He hoped his eyes communicated that message. Keith had been gone for so long, but throughout the whole time he had been away, they had still kept in touch. They called at least every movement and after they got past their senseless bickering, they actually became close.

So, no, this wasn’t how he wanted to greet him again.

“Pretty little thing,” he then heard the guard that was at the entryway. He pulled at Keith’s hair and drag him out of the pod. He thought he heard spitting, but his head was still a mess.

“It will be nice to see you broken,” Lance heard the same guard say as he let go of Keith’s hair. He didn’t like the sound of that. They needed to get out _now_. He was next to be pulled out harshly. He could hear the cracking of his armor underneath the vice grip of his shoulder.

“Where are you taking us?” He brought himself to demand. Before he was able to say anything else, he felt an electrical shock at his abdomen, causing him muscles to involuntarily convulse in pain. He gasped as the guard that did it grinned viciously at him.

He turned to see everyone else getting pulled out, each demanding the answer to his previous question and resisting despite their horrible position.

“Let him go!” He heard Shiro yell as his Galra hand fired up, only to be knocked out silent.

“Shiro!” Pidge yelled as she struggled against whomever had her pinned in place.

“They are taking Keith!” Lance yelled out weakly, his head pounding as he saw a guard carrying Keith bridal style away from them.

“Keith!” He yelled as he pulled away from the guard that was holding him, only to be thrown harshly to the ground, his nose crashing hard into the floor beneath him.

_My ears are ringing._

“Lance!” He heard Hunk’s voice yell. The rest became white noise of yelling and defiance that Lance passed out to.

* * *

“These creatures are what we’ve been fighting this whole time?” Was the first thing he awoke to. He jolted awake as he was met with druid eyes so close to him. His quick movement made him realize how he was bound to a table, his ankles bound side by side at the bottom and his hands at his sides.

He gulped and furrowed his eyebrow as he looked around.

“It’s awake,” the druid at his right laughed.

“We should shut down his translator. It would leave more anticipation,” he then heard the same druid suggest. He had no idea what they meant, but he felt a click at his ear and suddenly all their words became gibberish.

He panicked as he looked at both of them at either of his sides.

They laughed at his reactions.

The one on his left shook her head in a scolding manner as she went back to his ear. He heard the click again and he was able to understand what they were saying.

“The Emperor wants them to witness first-hand what is happening,” the left one said and he didn’t know how to react.

_The Emperor? But we killed him. Didn’t we? What happened? Where is everyone? Where am I?_

“Let me go!” he then found himself yelling as he struggles againt the metal cuffs holding him down securely. They both chuckled like they previously had as they tinkered with something at his side. He didn’t even want to know what type of liquid they had in their hands.

“Let me go! Where am I?” Lance demanded as he continued struggling, breathing erratically as his eyes darted every which way, trying to find some type of explanation.

“I thought you said the hybrid had the most fight,” the one of the right said. Lance paused for a moment to take in what they were saying. They could click off the translator or whatever it was that made him understand them, and he needed to absorb as much information as he could.

“Trust me, this one is nothing compared to the one that is half Galra. That’s why he was taken to the House. The whole empire is looking forward to seeing what comes of him,” the one of the left responded and the other humme din understanding and even amusement.

_Hybrid? Half Galra. The one that is a hybrid. Out of us?_

Lance felt the sinking feeling as he realized who they were talking about.

_Keith. They are talking about Keith._

He tried to focus on breathing and gathering more information. He focused on what he knew at the moment. They were in deep trouble, very, very bad trouble. He didn’t know where anyone was, and from hearing about Keith, they were probably split up. He didn’t know to what degree, but this was _bad_.

His mind then wandered to Keith. He cursed in his head as he imagined what they were putting him through. He had to admit, out of all of them, he was the hardest to break down. He jumped into action and asked questions later. And they were all fighters, but Keith was in it to win the war before anyone even starts it.

Whatever they had planned for him; it couldn’t be good.

What the druids were saying though, it meant he was still alive. He didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing at the moment.

Definitely, and probably, not okay. But _alive._ That was enough for Lance to hold onto as they continued talking as if he wasn’t there and gawked at his struggling. The moment of reprieve from his thoughts only caused the previous panic to settle back in.

He couldn't deny, he was scared shitless. The druids weren't _nice_ creatures if anything they were probably the most cold-blooded of all the Galra species, or whatever the hell they were. If he was being honest, Lance never really understood what the hell they actually were. 

Magical creatures? Galra witches? Wizards? Some weird evil being created by Satan himself? 

_Would they even know who the Devil is?_

Lance thought as he let his mind wander off rather than build up from anticipation and fear. The one on his right grabbed his right arm and twisted it so the front of his elbow would be exposed. Before he could even react, she had injected him with a needle and whatever was inside was seeping into his veins.

He whimpered as he felt the cold liquid rush through him. At first it was numb coolness, but then it started tingling, then burning, and then he was screaming.

“They are more sensitive creatures,” the left one said as if he were a scientific experiment. He assumed he was at the moment, but it didn’t help calm him down. He panted for air as he clenched his mouth shut trying to contain his pain.

“W-what,” he panted. “Was that!” He yelled as the burning got worse. It felt like hot oil was just slushing around in his body.

“This one is a serum to immobilize targets,” the left one explained. “It’s still being developed. We haven’t had to adequate species to test it on, but somehow you sensitive creatures are so adaptable and outstanding for procedures like these.”

Lance shivered at the comment, still slightly convulsing from what he was experiencing.

“The Champion was excellent for experiments such as these,” the right one added. “I do remember the days. It is unfortunate he wasn’t sent to us. But you will do great in his place.”

Lance thinks they thought that would somehow reassure him, but it didn’t. Not at all. He winced as the right one touched where she had injected him. She inspected it as if she hadn’t been the one to do it to him.

“No surface reactions. Good. Less detectable on enemies,” she noted as she let his arm go.

He felt the left one’s hand on his chest and suddenly it felt like all his air was being taken from him. He gasped and choked as she continued. After a couple of ticks of torture, he felt his breathing come back and the pain from whatever he had been injected with disappear.

He weakly looked at the one to his left, seeing her manipulate gooey yellow substance above him.

“It might be too thick,” she said as she dropped it into a vial and inspected it. He tried to focus on breathing as his body was set on edge from what had just happened. He was about to let himself rest until he felt another prick and he was thrown back into the same pain and misery.

* * *

He was thrown back in some type of cell after he could no longer feel much of anything. He didn’t even truly remember being dragged back into his cell and he just woke up there the next day. When they came back to him for the fifth time, he assumed at least a movement had passed.

“Don’t,” he said as he pursed his dry lips together. He weakly pushed at the guard that grabbed him.

“Don’t tell us what to do, you pathetic creature,” the guard said as he hit Lance in the head with his weapon, making him dizzy and weaker than he already was.

He sure felt weak. It couldn’t have been more than around a movement and he was already tired. He was already on the cusp of his breaking point and he felt so ashamed. Everyone else was probably doing so much better, holding it together so much easier than he was.

 _If they are alive_ , a small voice in his head reminded him and he squashed it down. They _had_ to be alive. If they weren’t he didn’t know what he was going on for. There had to be hope that Voltron was still a possibility and beings had some chance of escaping the fate that he was facing.

So, he got up and let himself be guided to the same horrid room he had been dragged to each day. When he was brought to the table, he gave less resistance to the smiling, glowing eyes that clasped him to it.

He shut his eyes tight and took a deep breath.

It was going to hurt. It _always_ did. He didn't know what they were doing, but he hated it. The first couple of days they injected him with different fluids and recorded his reactions to them. His hearing tuned out after one of the serums, apparently it burst his eardrums, so he didn't know entirely what they were explaining to him after that. 

Because that's what horrible, dreaded thing they did. They _explained_ what type of messed up things they were doing to him as if it was _something_ he was voluntarily asking for. 

_"This one is a serum developed to immobilize targets."_

_"This acts as a catalyst for multiple chemical reactions, causing opponents to feel as if combustion occurs in their organs."_

_"This one causes a burst of the opponent's auditory functions, causing a loss of hearing."_

He didn't know if it was worse that they healed him right after. They used quintessence, or at least that's what he's gathered. It felt _horrible_ , so invasive and terrible. He could feel it literally coursing through his veins, cold, raw liquid patching up whatever damage they caused and burning wherever it had to meld him back together. 

And then it would repeat. 

Experiment, quintessence, cell, food, sleep, experiment, quintessence, cell, food, sleep, repeat. 

Just _over and over and over-_

“Ah,” Lance was broken out of his thoughts as he was forced back into whatever was happening at the moment.

“Take him back. We will see what the reactions are after a couple of hours,” the druid above him said.

_When did you get here?_

Lance thought as he looked around. His eyesight was blurry, and the world looked a bit off, but his whole body felt like it was on fire.

It was overwhelming, like a mind fuck and his sense all going haywire. On one hand he felt dizzy and tired while on the other he felt on the edge and as if adrenaline was pumping through every possible part of his body.

He hissed, or he at least thought he faintly heard himself hiss over the loud beating of his heart. They had thrown him back in his cell.

It took a couple of doboshes for him to even entertain the idea of sitting up, but once he managed to do so he wanted to lay back down.

His body was hot and _burning_ , but his mind felt so hazy.

“What the hell did they give me?” Lance groaned as he closed his eyes and tried to relieve some of the sensations by curling in on himself and pressing on either side of his head with his fingers, digging into his hair to try to make it stop.

Whatever _it_ was.

He lasted like that for a while before he faintly heard someone walk into his cell and tower over his hot, sweaty, disgusting human ball he had been wallowing in since he sat up. They administered some type of shot and suddenly his mind cleared up almost instantaneously.

He took in a deep breath and panted as the world stopped turning and the pain stopped.

“You have the feed since he was returned back into his cell?”

“Yes, his translator is still intact.”

“Does he really need it?”

“Emperor’s orders.”

“The feed is to be sent to the Pleasure House experimenting facility along with developments in the final product according to feedback.”

“Makes you wonder what type of thing they are planning to do.”

“Well, it isn’t our place to question the Emperor. He defeated Voltron, that’s enough to convince everyone to just turn a blind eye to whatever he is planning with all of this.”

“Guess so.”

They knocked him out afterward.


	2. Hunk Captivity – 79 Months After Captivity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Did you really think we were never going to get out?” Hunk asked.
> 
> “I mean,” she said as she took a bite of her bread, “It’s been almost seven years, Hunk. I thought we were either going to die of starvation or the guards were going to get mad and kill one of us sooner or later. I was surprised we were even kept alive for so long.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol a 2am update, don't mind if I do. A LONGASS update...don't mind if I just drop this in. This is actually the second time I am trying to upload this because my internet crashed and my lang note thing was lost. The gist was basically this was supposed to be set in Hunk's POV after Shiro and Lance went with Keith to the "vacation planet" but then I thought about this scene playing out and giving other characters dimension and one thing led to another and now here we are with seven pages of 10.5 font...

“Get up,” a harsh voice rattled Hunk awake. His eyelids were heavy and not wanting to open. The mere thought of waking up ached and he groaned.

Ever since the Emperor had gone off the ship, he had been putting in many more hours, no longer caring for his _Darling._ The thought left a bitter aftertaste as he breathed in.

“Get up!” The voice got impatient. He felt his muscles ache as he forced himself to sit up. He felt footsteps get closer and his mind was racing with panic, but his body couldn’t will itself to get up.

He had been on his feet for almost the whole previous day and he had been put into research and the thought of going back to looking at screen and running back and forth for other tasks, made it enough to ignore the guard and even roll on his side.

“Hunk, we need to get up,” a gentle, tentative voice perked up. He felt a hand on his arm as he inhaled shook his head.

“I’m tired,” he said. “I’m so tired, Pidge,” his voice was groggy, and he could feel how chapped his lips as he talked.

“I know. But we have to,” her tone was patient, for now. “We have to stay strong. At least until we hear more from the Castle.”

Hunk inhaled as he took another few seconds to squeeze his eyes shut and open them, adjusting to the dim light of the hallway.

“My eyes burn. Do yours?” He asked as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes, realizing it was a bad idea as they felt like they could be swollen shut. He had stared at screens all day yesterday. After the whole incident with Keith, he had been put back into the same area as Pidge.

“Like if someone put hot oil in them,” Pidge responded. She was standing in front of him. Her bed was even made. It was a pretty sad excuse for a bed, though. All they got were cots. Hers was small, but it worked because she was small. Even smaller because of the lack of food.

Hunk’s was uncomfortable because it was a one size fits all. He also hadn’t been deprived of food as much as Pidge. He was assigned mostly tasks with guards and in his time being directly in contact with the Emperor, he had gotten to eat well.

He felt himself frown as he looked at her though. He was made to think about what brought them here. Of course, after their failed mission and Lotor turning against them, they had been brought here. But all the years they had been here, all the birthdays they had pathetically celebrated, all the aging they all did in prisoner rooms; it all seemed normal from how long they had been here.

But now recently after Pidge had discovered a possible way out, sparking new hopes, the perspective of how terrible their situation was started to sink in.

“If we don’t hurry up, they won’t let us eat,” the anxiety in her voice made Hunk nod his head as he set the blanket, or more the tattered cloth, as neatly as he could on his bed before they filed out of the room with the other prisoners.

* * *

“Almost seven years,” Pidge said as she dug into her bowl. It has soup and they had both gotten a small piece of what tasted like bread to go with it.

“It doesn’t even feel that long,” Hunk said as he took a spoonful, “At least, it didn’t until last night.”

“What do you mean?” She asked as she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. It had gotten a lot longer. Hunk remembered when they had all met up. Everyone except Lance had had short hair due to their captors shaving their heads.

Pidge never liked having long hair, but she hadn’t even brought up the idea of cutting it after it started getting past her chin. Hunk knew it was because she wanted some control, even if it was as small as having her hair be long.

As for the rest of them, the guards had been pretty lenient after their first year of captivity on leaving their hair alone. He liked to keep his short at times they were allowed to request maintenance.

“It just felt like a routine. I was forgetting how long we had been here. It just has become so normal. Then when you talked about getting a secret message from the Castle, it was just putting into perspective how long we have been gone,” Hunk said and Pidge took a few seconds to process before speaking.

“It’s crazy,” Pidge finished. “I never thought it would be over. We still have to figure out the details and it will be weeks before we can tell Shiro and Lance about it. It’s probably going to be months until Allura and Coran find the right time, but I guess it’s something.”

“Did you really think we were never going to get out?” Hunk asked.

“I mean,” she said as she took a bite of her bread, “It’s been almost seven years, Hunk. I thought we were either going to die of starvation or the guards were going to get mad and kill one of us sooner or later. I was surprised we were even kept alive for so long.”

Hunk let her words sink in. He would be lying if he hadn’t thought that himself. It was what he expected too before he had been requested to be by Keith’s side for months on end. Then, he started seeing more of the puzzle.

There has to be a reason we were kept alive. It’s either the empire still holds resent against Voltron or Lotor has some scheme. From what you told me about Keith, I think it may have something to do with that,” Pidge said, the look of disgust in her face.

“What were you able to figure out?” Hunk asked. “Beyond what I told you.”

“Well, he was at this place called the House for six years. The whole six years we were here he was there. I can’t even imagine what they did to him there. I don’t even entirely know much about it. I think from what I was able to find he has only been on this base for a year, and only had been here for just a few months before you were with him,” Pidge reported.

“He is really messed up, Pidge. I don’t even think he recognizes me, or if he does, he doesn’t want to talk to me as if he knows me,” Hunk said and Pidge didn’t know how to response she just nodded her head as she finished up the rest of her food.

“I just have to wait for Coran and Allura’s plans for now,” Pidge said after a couple of seconds of silence, “That gives us enough time to get everything in order, get the things Coran needs us to get, and get Keith.”

“I’m worried about Keith,” Hunk then said.

“Me too,” Pidge responded.

“Not even just worried because of how long he was alone and whatever is happening now,” Hunk said, “I’m worried that he won’t want to leave.”

“Why wouldn’t he want to leave?” Pidge asked.

“You didn’t see him, Pidge. The way he is when he looks at us, the way Lotor has him wrapped around his finger. It’s like when Lotor walks into a room, Keith becomes a whole different person even if he doesn’t want to. He straightens up, he tenses his shoulder, he’s terrified.” Hunk couldn’t even mention the fact that Keith had a child growing inside him.

He still hadn’t been able to face the fact he helped with that, much less start telling the people closest to him that he had helped put Keith in a darker place than he already was. He knew the choice had been forced on him, Lotor having tortured Pidge for hours in order to get him to comply.

To this day, Pidge still didn’t really know why she had been tortured, and Hunk didn’t know if he would ever be able to tell her. Lotor was sick in the way he was putting them all in this position.

“What do you think Lotor did to him?” Pidge asked. Hunk felt his body tense as he decided what to say. He had been keeping the details to himself, not wanting Pidge to know too much and trying to find the balance in keeping Keith’s traumatic life events private.

“I don’t know all the details, but I think they really messed him up, Pidge. The way the guards talk about him, the things they say about him,” he paused. “It’s horrible. I don’t know how he even wakes up every day and deals with it.”

“Have they asked you to see him yet?” Pidge asked.

“No,” Hunk responded as he finished his food. He went quiet as he thought about the last time he saw Keith. He was hunched over the toilet and he was desperate for an answer. He was desperate to know what they had done to him, what Hunk had _helped_ them do to him. He was starting to feel sick, so he took a deep breath.

“I’ll try to find out more about where he was before this. Can you ask around? I bet the servants you are around when you are with him, probably know more about what is happening,” Pidge suggested.

“Yeah,” Hunk said, trying to contain the sinking, _sick_ feeling of thinking about all the things Keith had been through. “I’ll let you know what I find out.”

“Get to work!” The guards in the prisoner eating hall declared and Hunk and Pidge looked at each other before getting up and going together to complete their daily tasks.

* * *

**A few days later.**

“The Emperor wants to see you,” Hunk was rattled awake. It took him a few seconds to wake up and process what he heard. Once he realized what was said, he shot up. The night cycle had already started. Why did the Emperor want to see him now?

He looked to his side and noticed that Pidge had woken up to from her own cot and was looking at him with widened eyes even after having stared at screens and deciphering war codes. He didn’t know how to read her expression, so he just sat up and rubbed at his own eyes, trying to wake up as much as possible.

“Get presentable, the Emperor is impatient,” the same guard said as he threw the same type of clothes he had been giving Hunk when the Emperor first requested he go help with Keith personally.

He assumed he didn’t want a servant within the royal chambers to be dressed in clothes with holes and discoloration. He even was asked to take a shower which he usually only got the privilege to do once every two weeks.

He did what he was told though and let the guards escort him to the familiar quarters he hadn’t seen for a week.

“You can just walk in. Tell him Gia brought the medicine she would from last week,” the guards said to hi, handing him a box of medicine, before leaving him at the door. He could hear the murmur of voices inside and he took a deep breath before entering.

When he did walk in, he expected something bad, having been called in the middle of the night. He was used to calls like this, picking up the pieces or mess of what Lotor had made, but he had never walked in on _this._ Lotor was sitting on the side of the bed, having Keith pushed onto his groin. He seemed to not even have noticed Hunk entering and was completely oblivious or ignoring Keith trying to push him off. Hunk felt bile as he faced the fact it was probably the latter.

He knew that this type of relationship was present between them, but _seeing_ it was so much more different. Keith was pregnant, how could Lotor…Even while he was-Hunk let out a cough to let his presence known as he stepped closer, trying not to look past Lotor’s hips.

“Yes?” Lotor finally noticed him and he asked the question so nonchalantly. Like this wasn’t a big deal, like seeing one of his closest friends in such a horrible and awful situation was just supposed to be the normal, which he guessed it was, but the anger boiled in him, nevertheless.

The thought of talking though left a dry feeling in his mouth and all he could get out were stutters because he didn’t know how to react, didn’t know if anything he did would be a _good_ reaction.

"Oh-um. Gia dropped off some medicine and I was instructed to drop it off-I will leave it here-I-," he tried to keep his voice steady, but it wasn’t steady at all. He winced as Keith looked more out of it as Lotor just held him there, his arms starting to fall dangerously limp.

He had to fight the urge to just lunge at the Emperor, knowing that wouldn’t benefit him, Keith, or anyone close to them.

“Hunk, get some clothes, won’t you?” Lotor said in that horribly cheerful tone, indifferent to whatever was happening. He breathed in, letting the air burn his nostrils as he tried his absolute best to keep repressing his anger. He noticed how Keith was still in a towel. Somehow the thought that Lotor couldn’t hold his need to hurt Keith for a second to give him at least a shred of decency, gave more to the fire that felt about to erupt in Hunk.

As he went to get clothes, he heard Lotor continue and when he came back, Lotor had tucked himself away and Keith was coughing violently, gasping for air as he curled in on himself.

“Swallow it, or it doesn’t count-,” Lotor instructed Keith as he looked up with a smug grin and smiled at Hunk. Hunk immediately felt his heart sink and the blood rush from his face. The realization that this felt _planned_ , that this was some sick way of Lotor showing his control settled in and Hunk just stared at him in shock. In shock, that they could have ever trusted this man, that they had had meetings with him, let him into their home, only to have him doing this, playing with them in such a contorted, sick way.

Hunk unconsciously tuned out the rest of the dialogue between Lotor and Keith as he held the clothes he had gotten tight. He came back to the scene when Lotor moved and walked near him, declaring he was going to go meet Gia and leave. He made a point of addressing Keith as _him_ and he wanted to punch that man so hard, the willpower to hold it in felt like a consuming force.

Hunk admitted, when he was first asked to care for Keith, he hadn’t recognized him. He had looked different, his stoic, sharp gaze wasn’t there anymore. His _manly_ parts were…there…anymore. His fight, his drive, the whole aura of Keith was gone. He also hadn’t seen him in more than half a decade. He didn’t even think of looking out for him, much less think that he would be someone close to the Emperor.

He also couldn’t even imagine how much they had messed him up. Keith had _lied_ to him. He had told him he didn’t remember him, didn’t know who he was. Hunk now, could even believe that Keith fundamentally didn’t really remember him either.

Something changed though after he had been forced to be there when Gia…did that to him.

When Keith had broken down in front of him after months of his morning sickness eating away at him, or having a mental break that he blew up at Hunk, it forced Hunk to realize it was truly Keith. It was him and if he was being honest, it terrified him.

Because out of all the paladins, why was it _him_ that met Keith first? Shiro would have been a better person to know how to react, Lance, oh god Lance would know what make Keith tick, would know how to help him cope, to build him back up. Pidge, she knew everything for goodness sake, but Hunk…he barely even talked to Keith. After Keith went to Marmora, he probably kept the least touch with him and thinking back, Hunk always thought Keith hated him-

Keith’s broken sounds filled with mind out of a sudden and Hunk realized his thoughts and reflections could wait for later. He may not have been the best person for Keith right now, but he was here and he was goddamn determined to help him.

“Hey, hey,” he tried to console as he rubbed Keith’s back as he struggled to breathe. Keith flinched violently at his touch and Hunk tried to find the right words.

“You didn’t want that, did you?” he asked and even he winced at those words because they were definitely not the _right_ ones.

 _Of course, he didn’t want that, you idiot,_ Hunk thought as he expected Keith to ignore the comment. His response was worse, though.

“No, I did. I love him. It was-it was just surprising, that’s all,” he said and Hunk couldn’t keep himself from frowning as Keith wasn’t even looking at him, still hunched over and his hair in his face and pooling at his neck.

He offered to help Keith brush his teeth, for obvious reasons, but was shocked as Keith rose his head up and held the towel tightly. His neck was covered in purple bruises. It looked like he had been choked, badly choked, and Hunk tried to not wince.

“Your-your neck,” Hunk said and Keith brought his eyes to meet his for the first time since Hunk had entered the room. “Is this how it has been for the whole week” he asked as he helped Keith get dressed in the clothes he picked out, Keith’s usual favorite pajama outfit.

“There’s nothing wrong. I am fine,” Keith said, sounding like he was struggling to believe his own words. Hunk didn’t say anything as he helped Keith to the bathroom and brush his teeth. Hunk had to grab at Keith’s hands as he started violently rubbing at his lips, almost clawing at them. It brought a deeper ache to Hunk’s chest.

“Why would care anyway?” Keith asked as Hunk dried his still-damp hair. It took a moment for Hunk to response.

“Because the Emperor is cruel,” he began, “Because I’ve-,” _not shown you how much you matter and don’t deserve this,_ “you are hurt,” he settled on it. “Why would I not care?”

He went to brush Keith’s hair, hoping Keith would just accept his explanation and not push further, he didn’t know how much he could go on without revealing everything outright. He had been warned not to do that, the threat of Pidge getting hurt, of Lance’s limbs being at stake loomed over him.

Keith suddenly pulled away though and he started speaking, an anger in his voice, a voice he hadn’t heard with _that much emotion_ since Keith had begged him to tell him about the baby. 

"Please, just don't pretend to care when you did what you did. Don’t confuse me, just do your job and stop it. Please, I can’t take anymore," he said and Hunk looked at him, speechless. After a while, he decided to speak.

 _Fuck the threats,_ he thought, not being able to think of Keith thinking he didn’t have anyone that cared about him any longer.

“I-I’m sorry,” he said as he picked up the brush and put it back into one of the drawers. He began with prefacing his silence, the things that had happened to all of them when they hadn’t listened. He felt pathetic giving Keith those excuses because now, it seemed ridiculous to try to compare their experience with what Keith had gone through, what he was _going_ through _every_ _fucking_ _day_.

“It’s fine,” Keith said as he seemed to visually retract himself in his mind. Hunk knew he couldn’t even imagine where Keith was going, what parts of his mind he was reasoning with as he stayed silent and awaited Hunk’s response.

“It’s not fine. This isn’t fine. You aren’t fine. And this isn’t fine-because you are also my friend,” the words came out with a sour taste, with an uncertainty that put Hunk off ease because while it alleviated some pressure off of Hunk’s chest, it looked like his words were doing more harm than good to Keith.

“I think I am fine now, you can go-,” Keith seemed to ignore everything Hunk said and started turning away, started shutting him out and going back to the room, the place Lotor had just forced him down in. The thought of Keith leaving there, of going towards harm, caused Hunk to grab him rapidly and keep him.

To make him listen even though he didn’t want to. It felt selfish, but Hunk couldn’t help himself.

“I didn’t want to face it. You look so much like him, but you acted nothing like him. And he’s been gone for six year-and god I know you’re him. And I’m not going to lie to you anymore,” Hunk let it out. He let it. All. Out. Keith looked shocked, scared, he looked even more terrified than when he had moments before with Lotor.

He looked like he was going back to that place, to that crevice in his mind where he had some control, where he maintained the remains of his sanity. To the place, nobody but himself were allowed to go.

“Please, don’t do it. Don’t say whatever you are going to, please. I don’t care. Whatever you say it won’t make a difference, so please,” Keith’s tone went static to pleading by the end of his sentence as he broke free from Hunk’s hold.

Hunk looked at him, processing what he was saying. He thought about what Lotor had done to his poor friend.

What the time they hadn’t seen him had done to him.

 _Why_ he was wanting to push him so far away.

And then it clicked. Keith had been alone. He had been alone for so long. The hopes of relying on someone had probably been eroded down so much that it probably didn’t even exist. Whatever the motive behind having Hunk come this late, Lotor had planned for it, had planned to have Hunk walk in on this, on _Keith_.

He thought back to the threats, the consequences, and realized that this was what Lotor wanted. He wanted Hunk to push Keith in a way that Keith pushed back, pushed him away. He wanted Keith to push back hard that it scared Hunk off; that it made him keep things the way they had been.

He wanted Keith to be alone. In some sick way that Hunk didn’t fully understand, for whatever Lotor’s plans were Keith needed to push his past away and it was crucial for his past to push him away as well.

Hunk wouldn’t do that though. He had pushed Keith away too much already.

“You aren’t alone,” Hunk brought himself to say as he slowly brought Keith into a hug. He felt Keith tense.

“Keith. I know it’s you and I don’t know why I couldn’t bring myself to do this before. To tell you that I know who you are. I-I just didn’t know how to,” he said, not being able to contain his tears, “I didn’t know how to, after all I did to you-after not doing anything for so long. I have been in denial and look-I hurt you-this is my fault,” Hunk realized himself as he let the words flow.

“I am so sorry, and I should have done this such a long time ago. All those times after he did those things to you, all those times Gia came in. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry Keith,” Hunk kept repeating. He kept apologizing before Keith let out a sharp gasp and pushed him off.

Hunk watched him go from confused to hurt to angry all in a matter of seconds.

"Please, leave," Keith said as he looked down. 

“Keith,” Hunk began to say.

“I am not Keith. He is a man and I am a woman, a lady,” the words were bitter, spiting, “Are you blind?” Keith’s voice snapped.

“Keith you aren’t a woman. You aren’t what he’s making you be. Keith you’re not that! You’re Keith! I don’t know what they did to you, but I know it’s you. Pidge-she, she hacked into and she,” he began to explain but Keith didn’t let him.

 **“I’M NOT KEITH,”** he yelled, making Hunk flinch. “And I don’t care if you want to give me hope. I don’t want it! I don’t want your friends, or whatever you think is going to make this all better because nothing anyone does will make any of this better,” Keith let out. “So please, please just leave. Haven’t you done enough?” Keith said and Hunk felt the words dig deep into him.

He wasn’t giving up though.

“Please,” Hunk said. _Don’t push me away. Don’t push us away. This is exactly what he wants you to do._

"If you don't leave, I am going to scream for Lotor, and I don’t think that would be good for anyone, so please," Keith threatened. 

"No, I won't leave you, not again," Hunk said and Keith sighed and screamed. 

“Keith, please! Please, just stop and listen! We are going to get out of here, and we are going to get you better. We finally found you, and you have to trust me, please,” Hunk said as he grabbed Keith from his shoulders.

Keith just continued screaming and Hunk dug his head into Keith’s left shoulder. He started crying, pleasing to Keith to just listen and calm down.

“Keith, please,” Hunk kept repeating until Lotor came in and called the guards to get Hunk out. They basically had to pry him off Keith. 

* * *

“Keith!” He was still calling his name out as he was forced back into the prisoner quarters. It was still nighttime and his yelling awoke some of the other prisoners who glared at him. Once he was shoved in and the guards closed the door behind them, he realized he was panting.

He pulled at his hair, trying to process what had just happened as he looked over to his cot, seeing Pidge was awake next to it still.

He was about to say something until he saw the same guards that had shoved him inside grab at her.

“Let her go,” he suddenly found himself saying as they dragged her weak body off her bed and into the center of the room.

“Let me go!” Pidge protested as well. Everyone seemed to be awake by now. The guards started hitting her viciously and Hunk lunged at them. They were hitting her so hard and he couldn’t do anything. He was so weak. He couldn’t even help Keith and now Pidge was getting hurt and he was too weak to stop them.

“Stop!” he begged as he felt tears gather at the corners of his eyes again as he clawed at the guards, feeling his already uneasy stomach churn as Pidge stopped yelling and her body became limp.

“You’re going to kill her!” One of the other prisoners finally stepped in and the guards stopped.

“The Emperor told you not to say anything to his whore,” one of the guards said as he wiped his bloody fist on Pidge’s tattered shirt. Hunk stared at him and wanted to scream and protest as he realized they were talking about Keith but he looked down and Pidge barely even looked like she was breathing.

“Expect worse the next time you dare disobey orders,” the other guars said as he left the room. Hunk dropped to his knees immediately and started checking Pidge’s wounds. Other prisoners gathered around them as they tried to pathetically treat and care for her. They eventually were able to detect a pulse and get her in a comfortable position on her cot.

Hunk stayed by her side the entire rest of the night and tried to keep the aftershock of the situation from becoming another mental breakdown.

They needed to get out. They all _desperately_ needed to get out because Hunk didn’t think they could handle anymore. It was either this plan that Allura and Coran worked out and worked out _soon_ , or they would all die here.

The more Hunk thought about it, he preferred to die here rather than keep on living on the way they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways, please drop a comment. Let me know what you think/thought. 
> 
> You can comment on what character/situation you want to see next. This work is more for you guys to get to know parts of the experience that isn't really able to be told from Keith's POV because it's HIS POV and you don't really get to see the others unless they interact with him. 
> 
> I will definitely take into consideration and ngl prob WILL write what you guys suggest and will let it guide the ideas for later chapters, so please let me know what you want. 
> 
> As always, <3, thanks for reading and stay healthy


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